Andrew Kerley, Executive Editor
Virginia lawmakers last month chose to hold off on requiring universities to lessen their restrictions on student speech, expression and demonstrations on campus.
Public universities in Virginia, including VCU, created new Campus Expression and Space Utilization Policies ahead of the 2024-25 academic year. They came at the behest of former Republican Attorney General Jason Miyares following a series of pro-Palestine encampment protests that led to over 100 arrests.
VCU’s updated policy includes new rules that prevent students from protesting in certain spaces, such as the Compass, and requires them to pre-register for large gatherings. It also places restrictions on sign sizes, amplified sound, chalking and wearing masks to conceal one’s identity.
“The First Amendment of the United States Constitution requires VCU to strike a balance, allowing the widest latitude for free expression and debate while maintaining order and an educational environment free from disruption,” the policy states. “It allows VCU to regulate the time, place and manner of expression.”
House Bill 1473 was introduced by Del. Charlie Schmidt, D-Richmond, a VCU professor and constitutional lawyer. He was arrested “a lot” while protesting as a VCU student himself in the early 2000s.
The proposal would have required public universities in Virginia to not impose time, place and manner restrictions on student speech that occurs in outdoor areas on campus — with exceptions in some niche circumstances.
It would have prohibited universities from requiring students to pre-register gatherings, placing certain restrictions on amplified sound, withholding degrees from students solely for participating in protests and restricting which areas protests can occur.
It also would have required any policy changes to be reviewed by the Virginia General Assembly.
“That’s the basic problem we’re trying to address, to undo the previous administration’s sort-of scare tactic they got universities doing,” Schmidt said.
However, a House of Delegates subcommittee decided to push the bill and re-review it next year because universities “freaked out,” as Schmidt put it.
Seemingly every lawmaker on the Democrat-controlled panel vocally voted “Aye” to the continuation except Del. Tom Garrett, R- Hadensville, who said “No, I wanna kill it to death.”
Multiple VCU students spoke at the hearing in support of the bill, including Palestinian VCU alum and organizer Sereen Haddad, who had her degree temporarily withheld after protesting, NAACP chapter political action chair Abdullah Mohammed and Oscar Ferguson-Osborne — who was arrested and charged while demonstrating at a 2025 gathering that echoed the pro-Palestine encampments.
At that gathering, VCU Police asked students to relocate 100 yards away from the Cabell Library lawn to a “designated area for free speech” in Park Plaza Amphitheatre. They said students could not hold signs with political messages on them, according to a previous report by The CT.
Eli Weinger, a University of Virginia alum and vice president of Students for Equity and Reform in Virginia, called Schmidt’s proposal a “common sense bill.”
“In a time when constitutional rights and rights to free speech are increasingly uncertain, it is more important than ever that we model inclusive free speech policies and make Virginia a national leader in this field,” Weinger said.
Representatives from the Virginia Coalition for Human Rights and the Virginia Muslim Civic League also spoke in support of the bill.
Brian Turner, a member of the Virginia conference of the American Association of University Professors, said the reporting mechanism in the bill protects institutions and also keeps them honest.
The Hillel chapters of VCU, the College of William and Mary and Christopher Newport University lobbied against the bill. They stated the time, place, and manner restrictions are necessary for students to be able to freely access campus without disruption.
“The widespread campus unrest of the 2023–24 academic year demonstrated how breaches in student conduct can destabilize campuses. In the aftermath of that year, national survey data showed that 40% of Jewish undergraduate students felt the need to hide their Jewish identity on campus,” a joint Hillel statement read.
Ultimately, it was opposition from the police departments of VCU, James Madison University, Old Dominion University, George Mason University and Virginia Tech that led to the bill being pushed another year. They were all concerned about removing their schools’ preregistration requirements for gatherings.
“This is a challenge, as the university has time, place and manner considerations that are in place to provide a safe atmosphere for our students, faculty and the staff,” said VCU Police Chief Clarence Hunter.
A spokesperson for Hunter did not answer a request for comment by The CT about concerns that pre-registration requirements could impede on students’ First Amendment rights.
Schmidt told The CT he is willing to amend the bill to include registration rules for certain areas on campuses, but said students should not need a permit as long as their demonstrations do not hinder other people’s movements.
“There has to be flexibility to allow for students to spontaneously protest without punishment,” Schmidt stated.